Saint Fan CaM

I did actually think he might stay, but of course when it comes to Liverpool (Sammy's secret spiritual home) Les will bend over and let the squad get pillaged. £32m is a reasonable price for him to be honest - even though he could show signs of brilliance, he was frustratingly inconsistent. Perhaps Les knows Mane will add to the ex-Saints players that have managed to drag Liverpool backwards - he knows the business better than any of us. I am trying to keep calm and wait for the new manager and quality replacements to arrive. If Redmond is supposed to do the same job as Mane though, I fear for next season.

I think MP coming here was a different kettle of fish completely - we were courting with the lower half of the Prem with Adkins for a start. And the primary angst over loosing Adkins was linked with sentimentality to him, rather than the credentials of the incoming manager. We have just parted company with a highly rated manager in Koeman who took us to Europe (again) and a 6th place slot in the Prem. I think it's only reasonable given the raised expectations of all stakeholders to expect a "wow" managerial appointment at this point in Saints march onwards. Don't you?

Thought this was a thread about our new manager? You can tell things are starting to get a bit boring when squabbles start on here about a random subject. Time well tell, but I am not feeling hugely confident that Reed and Co will get lucky again to the point that the new manager will click with the club/squad and improve our position. And I'm starting to wonder if the rest of the Prem will look at our new managerial appointment and say "WHO?" rather than "WOW!".

Could be a good signing - basically depends on (a) how he settles in the squad and (b) how we use him. If he is to link up with Berty then it could be an astute signing. Have to say though, £10m sounds a bit too much...I would have thought £7-8m was more the level.

Have to say that Pellegrini being appointed would be a big statement of intent by the club - he was not appointed to City or his previous clubs for no good reason. I suspect this works well for Sammy Lee and the other remaining back room staff too as I suspect he's less of a track-suit manager and will need that level of operational support. Just hope the club match his level in terms of player acquisitions and he in turn integrates to "the Southampton Way" successfully.

Rouge et Blanc? Mais oui mon enfants, c'est une evidence.

Bet we'll see Ron back at Jose's testimonial alongside Poch and Nige. Might get the cold shoulder from Les, but only if the next Manager turns out to be a failure.

Whatever one thinks of Koeman's ethics (the snake), I can't help but feel as though the club has been stiffed again and all the ST holders who have shelled out have been stiffed again too. What other entertainment industry sells it's product as one thing, then changes the design of product substantially after you've paid? It's like buying a pair of black footie boots in Toomers - you hand over your money, they get wrapped up and when you get home you find out they've given you pink ones, so you go back to complain and they say "what's the problem, they fit the same and do the same job right?". Perhaps I'm getting too old for this lark...

He'll be the next scapegoat...almost guaranteed.

I did mean red faces on here as well as in the Everton supporters camp BTW. Thing is, relations between Manager and Saints have been pretty good it seems - even Poch has been greeted back at KD's testimonial with open arms - all very friendly. In the same vein, Koeman has probably been very open with Les and Co about the Everton approach, with everything still open until all the ducks are lined up and that could still see him staying even if the likelihood is that he does leave. Just no point in getting all worked up over the whole damned thing - whoever we end up with, we'll be OK (caveat - unless we appoint Moyes).

I wonder if there are any Everton fans sweating now Ron hasn't been announced? lol I would lmfao if after all this we managed to find a deal with Koeman and he stayed. There would be so many red faces.

Still remember the Harry and Jim song ringing around SMS? I do. Not worried too much about losing Koeman - I am concerned about the replacement, although Les seems to have a knack for picking the right man. I hope it's the De Boer/Berkcamp combo...would be a statement...but hey ho.

Would the Board be thinking cheap by promoting Koeman 'junior' or would he be welcomed at Everton with Ron?

Reckon the merry-go-round had all started prior to the awards dinner based on Les Reed's off comment on Koeman's performance - there was something definitely there in his face that said "I don't want to answer that one right now". And if that is the case, then I suspect Koeman's successor has already been chosen, approached and contract in place all bar the signatures. That's the way the club rolls.

I think FDB would be the best all round option. I shudder to think of the other options that might be remotely realistic for SFC - would not want Moyes and Howe is a poor choice - he would crying back to Bompey (his 'spiritual home' and realistic club size for him) as soon as he started to mess-up.

Oh dear Pancake - seems your poking was a bit premature eh? For what it's worth, my little bit of hashtag fun was not doom mongering - let's face it, we've changed managers and players, seen meltdown's galore and guess what...we always come up smelling of roses. Wonder why that is? A last thought - I really wanted to see Koeman stay, but it seems one of the strategy elements of the club is not to allow complacency...not allow any one person coerce the project away from the project plan. With this in mind, the story from some on here that the Board wanted Koeman out seem pretty close to the truth.

Dare I say it, once again this might appear to ring true! LOL

What about Chambers? I know he was mainly RB for us, but he has played CB competently.

And this couldn't be posted on the already open thread on Koeman for what reason exactly? http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?56548-Ron-Koeman

This doesn't read as though Mane wants to leave? http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/14507148.Hot_property_Mane_looks_ahead_to_next_season/?ref=fbshr

I don't think anything I've said indicates I expect more than has already been mentioned by Ronald himself - i.e. he said he would be discussing the situation with the club last week. Perhaps there's a delay because of the FA Cup result affecting Europe - who knows? There's no need to panic, however thinking that discussions have not been on-going in some form for some time is naïve.

With each passing day without news of a contract extension, the likelihood of that happening diminishes. The rumour on here was that the Board would not want to enter into a new season with a manager that wasn't committed to beyond one season - it never seems to work well and there are likely some significant squad decisions to be made this summer to push on. The club do have an excellent chance now to gain ground via the Europa contest providing there is enough money to maintain more than 12-14 players of high Prem quality - having Championship level players to rotate into the first team is not moving forwards - this is key I think. Much work to be done by Les & Co - past summers have shown they know what they're doing - let's hope they can do it again.

He said talks this week and so far no announcement. Should we be concerned? Me - I think they'll announce something tomorrow just before the FA Cup to deflect attention from a less important subject.

You could pick out several players - Forster, Fonte, Wanyama, Davis, Tadic, Mane spring mostly to mind. I do like Davis, but we really need a box-to-box ACM to provide more options in attack...but then so does the majority of the teams in the Prem. I wonder if Ox could do that job?

Crazy that the lad is still 22 and is already finding issues with his fitness. And this at a club like Arsenal who are not exactly renowned for their high intensity, 'hard-nosed' style of football. I think it would be a mutually beneficial move for him to return here, but not at the expense of other players like Mane who is super-fit and usually always available. Juanmi replacement perhaps?